[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 24 (Tuesday, February 27, 1996)]
[Senate]
[Pages S1373-S1374]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                          ONE CHILD AT A TIME

 Mr. SIMON. Mr. President, usually we insert articles in the 
Congressional Record because we have some specific legislative remedy 
that the item we insert in the Record supports. In December, I read an 
article in Newsweek by Margaret Crane and cut it out and put it aside. 
I have just re-read that article. It is the story of one child but 
really is the story of many children.
  I do not know what we should do in terms of policy, other than I know 
we should be more sensitive to children all over this country who have 
enormously serious problems.
  I am asking that the Crane article be printed in the Record, not with 
the idea that I have any immediate legislative remedy, but because we 
should be reflecting on this type of need.
  The article follows:

                     [From Newsweek, Dec. 11, 1995]

                          One Child at a Time

                          (By Margaret Crane)

       The 10-year-old came toward me. She looked like a typical 
     preteen: small-boned with a face like a flower, dark eyes and 
     a tiny turned-up nose covered by freckles resembling 
     sprinkles of nutmeg. Her shoulder-length blond hair was 
     pulled back with a black velvet headband. She started talking 
     animatedly about her friends, her favorite subjects in school 
     and how much she loved to ride a 10-speed bike. This was my 
     first meeting with Mary (not her real name) a year ago.
       The more she talked, the less she resembled the child I'd 
     read about who had lived through torment that most of us 
     never experience in our worst nightmares. She entered the 
     juvenile system five years ago. She had been sexually abused 
     by an uncle, her father and her father's friend. Her divorced 
     mother, an attractive woman who is borderline retarded, is 
     now seeing a man whose children may be be taken from him by 
     the state. The boyfriend has a history of child abuse 
     documented in a report that is longer than a Russian novel. 
     The child's paternal grandfather molested another of his 
     daughters and served time in prison.
       Since Mary was removed from her home, she has been caught 
     in that purgatory known as protective care and passed around 
     like a stack of papers--three foster homes, two residential 
     treatment centers and eight schools. 

[[Page S1374]]
     Her appearance is deceptive. When I first met her, she was very 
     troubled. She wet her pants and was on medication to control 
     the problem. She behaved sexually toward boys and could get 
     verbally and physically aggressive. She threatened suicide a 
     couple of times and mutilated herself, pulling out her hair 
     or banging her head against a wall during tantrums. With 
     intensive therapy she has learned to better manage her anger.
       I am Mary's Court Appointed Special Advocate--a voice 
     speaking up for her in court. I'm neither a social worker nor 
     a lawyer, but a trained volunteer assigned by a family-court 
     judge to look out for Mary's ``best interests'' so she 
     doesn't languish in protective custody.
       I became a CASA after a friend asked me to get involved. 
     She felt that I could empathize with these kids because of 
     the complexities of my own childhood. I agreed to do it and 
     went through 30 hours of training, because as a mother of 
     three healthy kids, I felt I could not ignore other children 
     who are in greater need. My only hesitation was the time 
     commitment. I'm a freelance writer, and I was concerned about 
     juggling two jobs.
       There are some 37,000 advocates like me across the country. 
     We telephone and visit families, gathering facts to track 
     kids and their parents who get lost in the labyrinth of 
     foster care. CASAs report their findings to judges who often 
     have just minutes to decide where a child will live and for 
     how long.
       The importance of our work is underscored by the 
     highly publicized death of Elisa Izquierdo, 6, in New York 
     last month. Elisa, living with her father, was returned to 
     her mother after his death last year. Her mother allegedly 
     smashed the child's head against a wall. How do these 
     youngsters fall through the cracks? In my district, social 
     workers may be assigned more than 50 cases, supervisors 
     twice as many. CASA volunteers are assigned only one. We 
     serve, at no cost to taxpayers, as an additional safety 
     net, working alongside a multitude of professionals to try 
     and ensure that children like Elisa do not return to 
     unsafe homes.
       Elisa's tragedy has spurred me to fight harder to help 
     Mary. Since I took on her case, I've had unique access to a 
     family file filled with incidents of abuse that would sicken 
     the hardest heart.
       In a summer hearing, the court brushed aside the mother's 
     poor choice of companion and her lack of parenting skills, 
     and moved toward reunifying mother and daughter. The mother's 
     psychological evaluation suggested that she should have her 
     child back as long as they both continue therapy and Mom 
     attended parenting and life-skills classes. Mary was then 
     staying with her mother every other weekend. The judge 
     decided to increase visits by one day a week and assess the 
     case in two months.
       In September the judge ruled that Mary should return home 
     full time under the legal, watchful eye of the Division of 
     Family Services. Early next year the case will be reviewed 
     for the mother to regain permanent custody. I worry that this 
     decision will be based not only on what's best for the child 
     but on the need to clear an overcrowded docket of a case that 
     has gone on too long and is costing too much.
       I'm not convinced living with her mother is the safest 
     place for Mary. Mom is a good person who loves her daughter, 
     Mary loves her mother and wants to remain home. But Mom has 
     displayed poor parental judgment in the past. Once she failed 
     to get medical attention for Mary when she injured herself 
     seriously on a visit.
       From the beginning, I knew reunification was the goal. But 
     I really hoped it might not happen. Those handling the case, 
     including the social worker, therapists, lawyers and I, 
     charted Mary's future: where she'd be safest, have friends 
     and someone to help with her homework. In my opinion, she 
     should be with a paternal aunt who clearly loves her niece 
     and wants to help.
       In my area, there are some 800 kids who've been removed 
     from their homes and placed in care. Before I became an 
     advocate, I had no idea what happened to these youngsters and 
     never considered how I could help. As more of us fight for 
     these abused and neglected children, perhaps the level of 
     public awareness will be raised and we'll be able to protect 
     more before they're lost forever.
       I'm still aghast at the judge's recent decision to send the 
     child home full time with Mom pending the final court ruling 
     next year. The county's family services will continue to 
     insist Mary and her mom attend therapy and have intervention 
     services until that time, and I'll continue to monitor the 
     whole family.
       For the next few months I have a fighting chance to keep my 
     one CASA child safe, if they let me. At least I can comfort 
     myself with the knowledge that as long as I'm on this case, I 
     will do the best that I can with the worst that I have to 
     deal with.

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